"My husband and daughter were walking our dog last night at about 7:30 pm in Riverdale, NJ when they walked right up to a 500 lb black bear. They were about 10 feet away and my husband started walking away slowly, but my daughter panicked and ran home. My husband kept his eye on it until it started walking and then he ran as well. Its hard to remain calm and do what they tell you too when you walk right up to one. Luckily, the bear didn't follow and aside from some nerves, everyone is OK - although no one wants to walk the dog tonight."

BLACK BEAR in front of my house

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I have seen more bears this year then over the past 5 years combined. Few weeks ago we had a birthday party for my daughter. Around 8 kids playing outside. A small bear came out of the woods and started walking up my front lawn towards the children. We yelled at it and scared it away.Pretty sure it just ducked into the brush and hung out for a while. Around 20 minutes later it came back and started walking up the lawn. This time one of the kids, excited to see the bear ran towards it. Luckly it reacted by running away. Feel like I am playing russian roulette with these things. Sometimes they run away others times they do not. Only a matter of time before some kid gets killed.

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Maybe we need a hunt or some form of sterilization treatment, I don't know, but to see these large animals in front of my house... it is frightening. Our pets aren't safe and neither are we if we happen to be gardening and then scare them - who knows...

BLACK BEAR IN VERNON, NEW JERSEY

American black bear are approximately five feet long and vary in weight. Females range from 200 to 300 pounds and males are 350 to as much as 600 pounds depending on age, availability of food and time of the year. They are not necessarily black, but may be brown or even cinnamon-colored. Luckily, they are much better than the brown bear at coexisting with humans. Black bears are not typically aggressive. They will usually flee when confronted. They are generally solitary animals except for breeding and raising their young. The black bear population in the Skylands region has risen to 50 times what is was two decades ago. It is at an estimated all-time high of 1,000 animals and growing. There are 600 bears tagged by the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife in New Jersey. Using current information on birth, death and survival rates on the tagged bears, it is estimated their numbers will continue to rise. Humans have taken over much of the bear's original habitat. The loss of their homes has forced the bears to adapt to humans. And this highly intelligent creature has done just that.

BLACK BEAR in front of my house - VERNON, NEW JERSEY

In New Jersey the black bear lives in the wild without any specific designation. Black bear prefer to live in dense cover, such as forests, cedar swamps, thickets, brush and clear cuts populated with saplings. Their choice of home range is determined by the types and availability of food. They roam throughout the summer in search of food sources. Females will travel roughly 10 square miles, and males may go up to 50 square miles from home. Several bears may share the same territory if there is enough food to go around, but the dominant male will defend his territory fiercely. Black bears are excellent tree climbers, even as cubs, and use trees to escape danger. They are also highly adaptable within their habitat; they can live in both arid and moist forests. Although much of the bear's historical habitat has now been populated by humans, this ingenious animal has managed not only to survive but to thrive. Black bears generally live about 10 years, though a few may survive twice that period. The most important known mortality factor for the black bear is vehicle kills. According to the Division of Fish and Game, 46 road-killed bears were recovered in 1999. In New Jersey, black bear commonly live into their teens, which may be due to the abundance of food in this area. According to Patrick Carr, a Wildlife Biologist at the Division, black bears in New Jersey breed at roughly two to three years of age as compared to places such as Montana where the bears are five and six years before they breed. This is due to the optimal food sources here in New Jersey. They have not only an abundance of food, but also a varied selection.

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When the animals start vacationing in suburbs and even, yes, try to enter locked homes because they smell dinner cooking, it is time to draw the line. There is no value to having dangerous wild animals in suburbia. I like animals but not that much and all the so-called animal rights people need to get real on this issue.

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I live in Landing, NJ in the Highlands. I have a neighbor who feeds the birds and the deer with corn. We have been regularly visited by a black bear that seems incredibly large. This beer is frequenting our property more and more and on one occasion I stumbled into it not knowing that it was in my backyard. I have asked her to discontinue the practice because we have children and so do other neighbors. One of my neighbors told me she saw the bear at her back window. One day the bear pulled down the bird feeder and just hung out for an extended period of time. Aside from the numerous deer that have taken up residence in my yard there is plenty scat from both the dear and the bear. I have pictures of this bear standing on it's hind legs and boy is it tall and ominous. I don't know what to do because I have asked her to stop the feeding but she is obsessed with it.

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I live in Flanders up on the mountain for 26 yrs and have never seen a bear until tonight about 4:40 pm.I had just come in from the garage and I saw this black bear in my back yard standing on his hind legs looking in the birdfeeder. He was large standing approximately 6 foot on his hind legs. Then he slowly walked towards the deck and I freaked and quickly closed the garage door. Good thing as he went around the driveway and onto the front walk as I was calling the police. He then went to a neighbor's house. I got into the car & drove around the block and there he was going to the next house & across the street onto another front lawn. There were several neighbors walking dogs and the bear crossed the street and went to another house and snooped around on their front walk. By then there were several cars watching this and I found out that the bear had been in the neighborhood for about a week. Very scary since Halloween was last night!

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"We live in Vernon, NJ and each day the bear comes out to teh dumpster to eat, I have been face to face with it numerous times seeing my spot to park is right next to the dumpster, she is a tagged bear not sure what that means, I worry about the school aged kids walking to catch the bus and running into one of these things, we lived in lake hopatcong last year and had 3 bears visiting us weekly. scary especially when you have kids and they can't even go out to play!"

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"We live in basking ridge nj and I just saw a black bear at around 7:45 pm cross our backyard and move along. The bear was about 250 pounds. We were scared. Heard of bears around these parts but never thought we would see one around here. We are a little over a mile from the great swamp in a fairly populated area. So it must have wondered over. My husband was on a hammock in the backyard while I was in the front yard talking to a neighbour while my six yr old son was riding his bike. Got my son in the house faster than I ever had before. Scary"

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"Well, I have lived in Long Valley for 8 years in a neighborhood but have about 6 acres backing up to conservation land. Never saw a bear in 8 years. Then three weeks ago a huge one about 500 lbs goes trotting across the front yard at 7am and two weeks later walks right by the sliding glass doors from the game room where my son was watching TV, totally unfazed and passing by.

This is scary stuff especially with children and animals around. Sure they are majestic and all that, but I would prefer we somehow keep the population down. Now I have to worry every time I let the dogs out or the kids are in the yard. Who is going to guarantee me that they won't hurt humans or animals that are just going about their business."

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Our bear is back, this time with four cubs. Neighbors didn't heed the warning so it took down the bird feeders on their deck and searched their open garage. Cops came, blew their sirens but were ignored. They've been spotted several times in the neighborhood, so apparently they live close by and aren't leaving any time soon.

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"I was inside my house in Denville two days ago and saw a black bear in my garbage can. He/she wandered into the woods when he was done so I went outside to clean up the mess. As I was lifting the can upright, another bear appeared from the side of the house about 10 feet away. I dropped everything, ran inside and the second bear went to town on the garbage! It was pretty scary!"

I am a independent Handyman home maintenance serving Sussex County New Jersey and surrounding areas. I provide skilled handyman work to my customers. I am here to make sure your home is in tip-top shape and my repairs and work is always done with the highest regard for craftsmanship.

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